Hot Topics

U.S. stock futures turn mixed on Monday in cautious trading as the summit in Helsinki between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin begins; Amazon's Prime Day begins at 3 p.m. ET; Goldman Sachs to formally name David Solomon as CEO, a report says.

1. -- Markets Cautious Ahead of Trump-Putin Summit

U.S. stock futures were mixed on Monday, July 16, and global stocks traded cautiously as the meeting in Helsinki between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin began.

Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33 points, futures for the S&P 500 gained 1.30 points and Nasdaq futures were up 9.50 points.

Trump tweeted early Monday that U.S.-Russian relations had never been worse, thanks to what he continues to call a biased investigation into allegations that Moscow successfully meddled in the 2016 election, the latest of which produced the indictment of 12 Russians accused of hacking into emails held on the server of the Democratic National Committee.

Traders also weighed weaker-than-expected data from China that suggested growth in the world's second-largest economy could slow into the second half of the year.

2. -- It's Amazon Prime Day

Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) Prime Day, the online giant's fourth-annual sales extravaganza, takes place Monday beginning at 3 p.m. ET. The event is a day and a half this year, running 36 hours total.

Need some new PC games? A few avocados from Whole Foods? How about an Echo Show? Prime Day has grown into a major sales coup for Amazon, driving more than $2.41 billion worth of purchases on Prime Day 2017, according to an estimate by Digital Commerce 360. Amazon said that its Echo Dot device was the top-selling product on Prime Day in 2017, and that sales grew by 60% over Prime Day 2016.

But Prime Day is a whole lot more than a sales bonanza. It's a strategic push to make Prime a feature of every home, as well as a "training day" for newer channels such as Twitch, Whole Foods, or Amazon's growing family of Echo voice assistants, according to TheStreet's Annie Gaus.

"Prime Day serves multiple purposes, and one of them is from a logistical standpoint," said Tom Forte of D.A. Davidson & Co. "It's a dress rehearsal for the holidays as well. And I think it's increasingly becoming a question of: 'How do we incorporate every retail app we have into the Prime Day story?'"

Solomon, 56 years old, has been considered the heir apparent to Blankfein since he was named the firm's sole president in March. But a formal announcement of his promotion to CEO hadn't expected until the fall, the Times noted.

5. -- Deutsche Bank Sees Solid Earnings Growth

Deutsche Bank AG ( DB) , Germany's largest lender, revealed a bullish outlook for its near-term earnings prospects in a surprise release Monday ahead of its scheduled report on July 25.

The bank said it expects net income for the three months ended in June of about €700 million ($818 million), putting the first half total at around €1.15 billion, figures that the bank said "demonstrate the resilience of the franchise" and are "considerably above the average consensus estimate" it had previously compiled from analysts that cover the stock.

Second-quarter revenue at the bank was estimated at €6.6 billion, and should include around €3.5 billion from its corporate and investment banking division, Deutsche Bank said.

Free White Paper: 7 Things All Investors Must Know in 2018. Start the second half off right with our free white paper on seven key things to watch this year. From how much cash to have on hand to the three reasons this bull market might die, our white paper features key takeaways from an all-star panel that TheStreet and Fisher Investments recently hosted in New York. Click here to register for your free online copy.

China's economy slowed to its weakest growth rate since 1990, official data confirmed Monday, as a damaging trade war with the United States, and efforts to curb domestic pollution and reckless lending, took a major bite out of the world's second largest economy.